


Bruises and New Friends

by I_am_Eli



Series: Rachel Catherine Hamilton [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Bullying, Gen, Light Angst, MTF character, Male-Female Friendship, Moving, Trans Philip Hamilton, Trans Theodosia burr alston, Tumblr Prompt, ftm character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27648191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_am_Eli/pseuds/I_am_Eli
Summary: After bullying from other classmates, Rachel Hamilton moves to a school she can be happier in. Happiness never truly lasts, but that's okay - she has Theo there to help her out.
Relationships: Theodosia Burr Alston & Philip Hamilton
Series: Rachel Catherine Hamilton [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2020807
Kudos: 8





	Bruises and New Friends

Things were getting difficult in the Hamilton household. 

Rachel had experienced violence at her school - from both the students and the teachers. Kids hitting her on the school bus, death threats left by older students in her cubby, rude, scathing comments made by her teachers…

She came home from school every day with fresh bruises, blossoming purple against her freckled skin, and tears stinging her eyes. 

But, she told no one. This was her burden to deal with and hers alone. This, in her ten-year-old mind, was just the price she’d have to pay to feel comfortable in her own skin.

She started wearing long sleeved sweaters to hide the injuries on her arms, as well as leggings. She put on a smile for her family so that they had no reason to worry for her. She played them all.

School was Hell. But, she was happy enough now. She got to grow out her hair, just like Angie, and wear the dresses and the skirts and the leggings. Her hair, now, was even long enough to pull back into a small ponytail. 

Her parents found out what was happening at school when Rachel came home with the ponytail sheared off, hair uneven and choppy.

Alexander had raised Hell. Had sent email after email to the school board, had publicly dragged the school system’s name, had even threatened to sue. Nothing much changed, other than the fact that the teacher’s hurtful comments mellowed down into heated glares.

Eliza and Alexander pulled Rachel, and the other children, out of school when their oldest daughter came home with a bloody nose. 

They’d moved to New York. They’d had to drag John and AJ, kicking and screaming. Angie had cried. Little William had wailed. None of her siblings talked to her on their way to their new home.

While the adults unpacked everything, the children were sent off to their new school - a private elementary school that was probably more expensive than necessary but, as her father had stated, completely worth it.

On her first day, when Rachel had corrected the teacher calling attendance when she’d called her ‘Philip’, the teacher had merely nodded and continued on, as if it was nothing. The students hadn’t even batted an eyelash, perhaps too young to know what it meant that her birth name was a boy’s name, perhaps not caring. 

It was only half way through the school year when things started stirring up again.

The school was in a small, very liberal-minded area. Not many people really cared if she was trans or not - and if anyone  _ did _ care, they hadn’t come up to her yet. 

But, of course, nothing good could ever last.

Rachel wasn’t even sure how it had happened. Just that, one moment, she was walking down the hallway and, the next moment, she was being dragged off by two older students. She had kicked and yelled for help. Had bitten them and cried and had used every swear word in her vocabulary - most of which she had learned from her father.

It didn’t stop them. They had still taken her to the gym’s locker room. Had still locked her in one of the ugly, mustard coloured lockers. 

It smelled like sweat and old socks and it made Rachel gag. 

She didn’t know how long she had been trapped in that locker. Maybe only five minutes. Maybe as long as five years. 

When the door to the locker swung open and she fell out onto the cold locker room floor, she felt like sobbing in relief. After a moment, she looked up at who had saved her.

It was a boy. Perhaps a little shorter than herself. His skin was dark while his hair, curly and messy, was a light brown, like cinnamon. His face was long and angular, still soft with baby fat, and his shoulders were rather narrow. He looked slightly familiar. 

The boy helped her up and she was, indeed, an inch or so taller than him.

“Are you alright?” the boy asked, voice slightly frightened. It was only then she noticed how anxious he looked. She wiped at her eyes.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m okay.” She stuck out her hand. “My name’s Rachel Hamilton.”

He took it reluctantly. 

“Theo Burr,” he said. “Short for Theodore.”

“Nice to meet ya, Theo,” Rachel said, smiling happily now that she wasn’t trapped in a locker.

“If only it could’ve been under better circumstances,” Theo said dryly. Theo glanced at the plain black digital watch strapped to his wrist. “I’m gonna be late for algebra...”

“Wait, you’re in  _ algebra- _ ” 

“I have to go, I’m afraid. I’m going to miss the bus to the high school...” Rachel nodded, still reeling from the fact that one of her ten year old classmates was in algebra. 

“Uh, okay. It really  _ was _ nice meeting you,” Rachel said. Theo smiled awkwardly.

“Yeah… um, you too.”

“See you around?” Rachel said hopefully. It would be nice to have a friend here, after all.

“Oh, yeah, definitely. I take my morning classes here, and I’m in your reading class, so...”

“Oh, right, right.” Rachel crossed her arms, rocking back and forth on her heels. 

“Well. Uh, bye then,” Theo said, waving and turning around to leave the locker room. Rachel grinned.

Yeah. She was definitely going to be friends with Theo Burr. 

**Author's Note:**

> Not my best work. Apologies for that. Leave comments if you want.


End file.
